What a yummy dinner or what two new knives will do to motivate me to cook!

Not a RRR dinner, but it was a great dinner none-the-less.

After a week of nothing but salad with only lemon used for a dressing, I thought it might be time for me to try something else. First, I have to say that I did buy some flounder, cooked it the way my mother did, which was yummy, of course, and then broke it up into bite-sized bits to put on those salads -- at least the last three.

So, I'm salad-ed out. I love fresh greens and crunchies such as radishes, mushrooms, cucumbers, and not-so-ripe avocado toss in with the greens and lemon juice, but enough is enough.

Are you getting excited about what I'm about to tell you I cooked today and which, if there had been any more, I would have gobbled it up.

But first....

Yesterday, I realized why I have someone do my food shopping for me. I needed just a few things (actually three plastic bags of stuff, one of which was full of Puffs for Alan's nose). So I went and got just what was on my list and added one other item, the item about which I will tell you in a minute.

Anyway, I was so wiped out by the time I got to the check-out -- AND YES, I RIDE ONE OF THOSE RIDING CARTS -- that I said to myself: This is why you have Tamara shop for you. You could kill yourself if you did this every week.

Now to the "meat" of the BLOG:

I made lamp chops that tasted exactly like the rack chops you get at Outback. They are so good, and it was the sauce (jus) they serve with the rack that had me stumped, but I figured it out.

First I seared four chops and then put them in the oven at 400 degrees to bake for 20 minutes, then I turned on the broiler for the last 5. PERFECT, medium rare chops.

To make the sauce I had very finely chopped two stalks of rosemary and sprinkled that along with the salt and pepper on the chops. Then I arranged the chops in the pot and put whole cloves of garlic in the center (when I popped the pot in the oven, not before). I was left with a wonderful jus (syrup?) to which I added a tablespoon of Kitchen Bouquet and 1/2 cup of water. This I brought to a boil and then put in a light slurry of cornstarch and water. Perfect viscosity for the jus -- not thick, not watery, and oh, so yummy.

Alan and I dipped our chops in the jus (did you know that lamp chops have a wonderful handle to hold on to when you're eating them in the privacy of your own home?) and were moaning and aahing and oohing with each bite. What a combo. I added fried noodles and tomatoes mixed.

Just boil the noodles to al dente, and then drain. Put them in a frying pan with 2 T of melted butter. Turn the heat on high and turn the noodles frequently for about 3 minutes. This will give most of the noodles a nice crunch, but they will still be noddle-y. The tomatoes to be served over top of the noodles was just cherry tomatoes (I used 20) sliced in 1/2, and added some sweet basil finely chopped, salt and pepper, and a few drips of EVOO. YUMMMMMMM.

What can I say? It was a fabulous meal.

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fetuccini alfredo

I think If I looked back, I'd see that I already have put this recipe into this BLOG, but my sister and cousin and I enjoyed this so much on a recent trip to Virginia, that I thought I'd reprieve it, per sis's request.

Mom never made this treat. However...

Back in the mid-80s to the early 90s when I was entertaining frequently, I found that this dish was well received by any and all in attendance at one of my dinner parties. I varied the base from time to time by including cut up ham or bits of bacon, but always started with the same base.

The recipe is very, very simple.

For 4-6 people:

1 pound of fettuccine noodles -- cooked according to package directions. BE SURE TO NOT OVERCOOK the noodles.

1 quart of heavy cream.
1/4 of a stick of butter
1 teaspoon of garlic salt
2 cups Parmesan cheese

In large fry pan* melt the butter. Sprinkle the garlic salt over the melted butter. Mix. Add to the melted butter the cream. Slowly bring the cream to a bubble, but not a boil. If the cream boils, it will separate. It will still taste as good, it just looks nasty. After the cream comes to a bubble, add the cheese, stirring until all the cheese is mixed in. Turn down the heat to low (electric stove is a 1 or 2 setting). Let the sauce keep warm until the noddles are cooked. Add the noodles into the cream sauce right in that pan, mix and let the mixture remain in the pan (on low) for 5 minutes or so, so that the sauce is absorbed into the noodles.

Eat and enjoy. Serve with salad, and if you wish garlic bread. We had it with fresh tomato/basil salad, which was a real treat.

*Large fry pan -- large enough to hold all the sauce and all the cooked noodles.

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Capon and risotto and mush

I am reading a book about Abruzzo and the food of the region (Food and Memories of Abruzzo: Italy's Pastoral Land by Anna Teresa Callen). It's a long book with Anna's memories of her childhood and the food that she enjoyed. She is a cook, had a stint on PBS as a chef back in the 60s and early 70sm and returns to Italy and Abruzzo every year to get more recipes.

I'm reading about capon. A capon is a rooster that is raised specifically for eating, as opposed to helping the hens make eggs. And I recall as a small child that my mom always wanted a capon at Christmas time. She would ask Mr. Leap to get her one, and when I was younger than a teenager, we often had capon for Christmas dinner, and I must say, I rather enjoyed it.

I probably enjoyed it so much because it was a much bigger bird than the normal chickens we got, and parsing this bird between six people gave me a bigger portion.

I guess I never realized until I read this book that in Abruzzo the traditional bird for Christmas was a capon. In fact, the author avers that capon was rarely eaten except at this time of the year.

Now, my mom never made risotto; at least she didn't call it that. It was just rice. And until she started using that awful minute stuff we had good rice in our house. Mom would put some butter in a pan and then "brown" the rice for about two minutes, stirring all the time. Then she would add twice as much liquid -- usually chicken broth -- to the rice as she had put rice in the pot. She would lift the lid occasionally and stir the concoction, and then we would top it with parmesan cheese. It was very good. And I suppose this creamy well-cooked rice was risotto.

Another item in this book that harps back to my mom's cooking is the use of mush -- corn meal mush -- as a supplement to meals, to bulk them up so to speak. Mush...now called polenta. I hated that stuff, so I'm not in any hurry to try polenta at any restaurants and pay a big price for something I never could stomach as a child. I don't like grits either.

I guess what I'm saying is that if you have time and can get a copy of Food and Memories..., by all means do. It's a great read, and I've culled several recipes.

As a final note: I went to the butcher shop to pick up my ground lamb. Lamb is very difficult to get in this part of the country, so I asked my butcher to get me a few racks and about 10 pounds of ground lamb, mainly because both Alan and I like lamb-burgers. So, what did he get me? Ground veal. I figure somewhere in this book there has to be some recipes for ground veal.

Without the benefit of any specific recipes, I am thinking I can make some veal patties and bread them and fry them in EVOO, then make veal Parmesan out of them, or something similar.

I'll let you all know how it turns out.

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Lunch with a friend

I had lunch with a friend yesterday. It was such a treat for ME to have my friend visit and then stay for lunch. I still like to entertain, and now that my knees are doing so much better, I can entertain without getting so sore.

My mother didn't do lunches with friends, but the recipes I used for my luncheon were mostly hers.

The luncheon consisted of:

• Lime flavor chips and green (tomatilo) salsa (bottled). I have to say that I don't really care for this salsa. It's just too mild for me. I think I'll stick to the red (tomato) salsa.
• Fresh garden salad with a lemon/white wine vinegar dressing. Salad contained fresh greens, cucumber from the garden, fresh picked tomatoes, and avocado.
• Cucumber sandwiches
• Peaches with whipped cream

The lemon/white wine vinegar dressing is very simple to make. Squeeze the juice of one lemon over the avocado and over the cucumbers. Salt the salad lightly. Add 1/4 cup of vegetable oil or olive oil (depending on your taste). Stir thoroughly.

The cucumber sandwiches are made as follows: remove the outer skin from the cucumber. Cut the cucumber in half length-wise and remove all the seeds. Then slice the cucumbers into thin slices. Add 1/4 cup white vinegar and 1 tablespoon of salt. Chill overnight. To make the actual sandwich, I use the softer bread, but any bread (your favorite) will do. Spread a very thin covering on one slice of bread of Philadelphia brand whipped cream cheese. Lay on top of the cream cheese the slices of cucumber that you made last night. Cut into quarters. If you wish, take off the crusts. Do not make these too far ahead as the bread will get soggy.

The cucumber sandwiches are delicious as is the salad. Enjoy.

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Chicken

My mom had a problem cooking chicken. Many times it was too dry, especially when she baked it or broiled it. By dry I mean sawdust dry. You know, the kind of dry chicken that sticks in your throat and even swallowing water on top of it doesn't dislodge it? Really, really dry chicken.

So when mom made chicken in the oven we would pray no one called on the phone or dropped by or else we knew the chicken would be bone dry.

She always served this baked chicken -- a recipe she picked up from Better Homes and Gardens magazine -- with mashed potatoes, which were really creamy and lumpless, and excellent tasting, and succotash (creamed corn and lima beans). Also, of course, the salad of greens for the end of the meal. Always a salad of greens for the end of the meal.

Her chicken and dumplings we loved. Her chicken croquettes we loved. Her chicken-a-la-king we loved. Her chicken cacciatore we loved. Her chicken, rice, broccoli, cheese casserole most of us loved that dish. Her fried chicken -- yummy. Her chicken soup, delish. And her chicken salad couldn't be beat.


But that baked chicken -- sorry, BH&G, but that recipe failed more times than it passed.

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No giggles

I was so certain we were going to get the giggles like we did when I was a child. My cousin, Joan, was there, and I guess if we had sat together in church, we would have giggled. However, I was playing the piano, so I sat in the front, beside the piano, and Joanie was sitting with her husband, Ron, in the near rear of the church.

I was thinking about Joanie yesterday and was a little bummed because everything was so rushed on that Sunday morning, and I didn't really have as much time with her as I had desired. And then I recalled about the giggling which I was so sure was going to happen during church.

The picture of the rose above is from my mother's climber which spreads out each spring to cover the front of the garage. A friend from the church told me that they cut it back every fall, and every spring it grows to the great proportion which I saw when I got home. The picture is just of one of the many roses that covered the bush.

I also noticed when I was home that all the weeds that had grown behind the garage had been removed and it is now part of the lawn. It never was when I was growing up. It was sort of a divider between our yard and the neighbor's yard. Now, it's all one giant lawn from our yard to the eastern end of Second Avenue. That's the top picture. No more picket fence, no more weeds.

And that's ttfn.

I outdid myself.

I was thinking: DINER. Not dinner. And I was thinking what could I make that was typical DINER fare. I was thining DINER because I'm trying to get us reservations at Phily Diner in Runemede for our one family night together. I think I've accomplished that fete. Guarantee will be on Monday.

I've been working on getting us a place in the Diner for several weeks. One person tells me we have too large a crowd for the diner, another says I have to be in their event room. Another says the event room may be booked. Another says the event room may be too big. Well, tonight I finally got through to the person in charge, and was told we COULD meet in the diner -- in the OLD part -- exactly where we want to be!!!! Isnt' that great!

To my DINER meal:


I made pork chops, mac & cheese, and succotash. How fattening and diner-esque is that?

The pork chops were boneless, and very thick. I first braised an onions, roughly chopped in a little bit of butter, lightly salted. Then when the onions were almost translucent, I put the chops in the pan on top of the onions. I seasoned the chops with salt/pepper and garlic salt and browned them on each side. Then I covered the pan with the chops in it, and lowered the heat down to "low" (on my flat-top electric range). They simmered for about 15 minutes and gave me a lot of juice from which to make a really nice gravy.

To the pan drippings I added 1/4 cup HEAVY cream and 1 tablespoon of gravy bouquet (to darken it), then I thickened it a little bit with cornstarch and water mixed. The gravy was delicious.

The mac & cheese was my easy recipe, same as my moms -- well, it changes every time I make it, as did my moms, but basically it was:

macaroni (1 cup uncooked), 2 cups freshly grated sharp cheddar, 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese, 1/2 cup heavy cream, 1/4 stick of butter. After the macaroni was cooked and drained I put it all back into the pot, and stirred it over low heat until it all mixed together. It was really good and creamy. Not at all dried out like my meatloaf was yesterday (See yesterday's post). Mom ALWAYS topped hers with broken up saltines. I didn't top my with anything today. I often top it with bread crumbs and then bake it for 1/2 hour or so. Today I scooped the mac and cheese right out of the pan.

And then we had succotash. Alan's favorite veggies.

I didn't care how I slopped it on the plate, since it was diner fare, and we just enjoyed it tremendously.

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Dried meatloaf

Can anyone tell my why my meatloaf was so dry last night? I mean, yuck. I don't particularly care for meatloaf anyway, but this one was awful. It tasted okay if I slathered it with stewed tomatoes, or for Alan, with ketchup, but it was dry.

I guess I just can't do an oven roasted meat loaf. I usually brown it on top of the stove, then cover the pot, and cook it on top of the stove. That's the way my mother did it. But I chose the lazy route yesterday, and made the meatloaf and cooked it all in the same pan.

Then I made fried noodles, and for some reason the butter just wouldn't stick to the noodles. They were good, though. Fried noodles is something that is a natural side dish for meatloaf. I used to have mashed potatoes, but they are too much trouble. I just hate peeling potatoes, and I'm not fond of the skins, so smashed potatoes isn't often an option. I only smash the potatoes, skin and all, when I'm desperate.

Hunts has a new diced tomato -- it has oregano, basil, onion, and garlic in it. It's my mother's stewed tomatoes in a can, all I have to do it thicken it a bit. It sure was easier than trying to make sure I got all the spices in the right quantities for the way I have prepared stewed tomatoes all my "cooking" life.

Oh, enough, already. I'm on to other things, and cooking isn't one of them.

If you have a perfect meatloaf recipe -- one that gives you a moist meatloaf every time, let me know.

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Creamed anything

My mother was the master of feeding six people with enough meat for three. Yes, we were meat eaters, sort of. And every meal was served with a garden salad. It's an Italian tradition, I suppose.

To go along with our love for meat, my father liked just about anything "creamed." Creamed chicken. Cha-ching. Creamed dried beef. Cha-ching. Creamed sausage. Cha-ching. Creamed peas with pearl onions. Cha-ching. Creamed spinach. Cha-ching

My mother's basic "cream" recipe was so easy to make. And when I was first married, we had very little money, but I had my mother's "cream" recipe. Back then a gallon of milk was 99 cents, a loaf of bread was a quarter, and chicken was 39 cents a pound.

Alan and I thrived on pancakes and spaghetti, and "creamed anything."

So, I'm putting my mom's "cream" recipe on this BLOG and you can add to it what you want.

4 tblspns butter (or margarine)
1/4 cup white flour
2 cups whole milk

Melt the butter, whisk the flour into the melted butter. Turn back the heat as you're doing this. When the heat is on low to low-med, slowly add the milk, whisking the entire time. This should give you a not-too-thick/not-too-thin cream sauce.

You can add whatever you want: left over chicken (or as my mother did, boil a small chicken in water and then pick the bones, store half the chicken meat in the freezer and add the rest of the chicken meat to the cream sauce). Or, you can add chipped dried beef (it comes in jars now days). When I was a child, mom would send me down to the grocer at the corner of Clements Bridge and the Pike because they had the best fresh dried beef. I'd get 1/4 pound for 25 cents and mom would make the cream sauce. Dinner that night would be cream dried beef over RICE -- yes rice. My dad liked it that way.

In the mid-50s Pepperidge Farms came out with a frozen puff pastry and mom would bake six of those pastry cups and fill them with creamed whatever-was-handy. Yummy. Dad loved it that way. If there was any left over creamed whatever-was-handy, mom would toast a few slices of Italian bread and dad would slurp up the remainder of the creamed stuff.

Cheap, easy, and very comforting.

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Am I in my right mind?

I mean, who in their right mind makes fried chicken and potato salad on a cold (15 degrees), dreary, day in January? Well, I am making that for dinner tonight.

Actually, I'm making SMASHED potato salad because I'm too lazy to peel the potatoes and cut them into itty-bitty pieces. I also smashed the eggs with the potatoes. So, they're cooling off in the fridge, and I've got the celery, green pepper, and onion chopped ready to be added to the smashed mixture.

The chicken is "marinating" and is ready to be thrown, or rather, placed gently, into the hot oil, whenever I turn on the pan containing the oil. Dinner is ready to be cooked. A real summer treat, in the middle of winter. How weird is that?

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Update

I know I haven't written on this BLOG for ages and ages. Well, I've either not been cooking or I've been doing remakes.

Tonight, for instance, I did the old standby -- fettuccine Alfredo, with chicken. I decided since I wasn't really up for a meal at all, I'd just add "shaved" chicken. What is shaved chicken? Well, first of all, it's the easiest way to make a chicken dish go from two people two six or eight people, just by cooking more noodles.

If you get chicken fillets out of the freezer about an hour before you are going to cook the dinner, they will still be quite frozen. Being frozen it is much easier to cut the chicken into thinner pieces (shaved, if you will) and when you mix those pieces with the noodles, you really can't tell where the noodles leave off the the chicken begins. I mentioned that you should make this dish expand by shaving the chicken. I used one-half of one fillet for this meal tonight, and it was more than enough for two people. So you see how it expands the meal?

This works well for stir fry as well, in fact, especially well for stir fry. I use one fillet for the two of us.

So, you all know what I made for dinner tonight. It seems when I don't feel like eating I cook better, or is it just that I've come off a weekend of the cooking channel and am motivated to cook?

Did I mention that I baked a cherry pie today as well? The crust was wonderful. Crisp all the way through, just the way we like it.

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